Days after Russia planted a flag on the sea-bed at the North Pole, Canada responded by sending Stephen Harper, the prime minister, on a three-day trek to the region. “Our government has an aggressive Arctic agenda,” Dimitri Soudas, Mr Harper’s spokesman, said. “The Russians sent a submarine to drop a small flag at the bottom … Read More
Arctic oil
Russia “Claims” Oil-Rich North Pole
Russia has sparked an Arctic oil-rush by planting its flag on the ocean floor under the North Pole in a politically charged symbolic gesture to claim the rights to the sea bed which could be rich in oil and gas. In a dramatic technical feat testing international law, the Russians dispatched two mini-submarines 2.5 miles … Read More
Alaska Regulator Assists Shell Drilling Campaign
The Anchorage Daily News reports how, when oil giant Shell ran into problems recently securing federal air pollution permits needed to launch its controversial offshore drilling campaign for this summer, the company went to the state’s top pollution regulator for help. Shell hopes to start drilling exploratory wells in Beaufort Sea this summer using two … Read More
BP Freezes Payments to Browne
It may not be such a happy retirement for Lord Browne. His former employer, BP has frozen payments worth more than ÂŁ1.5m owed to him, while a court case is resolved. John Manzoni, the outgoing head of BP’s refining operations, is also having payments worth nearly ÂŁ500,000 suspended.
North Slope: 50 Years Left
Although oil production on the North Slope is in steady decline, its largest operator, BP, remains bullish about the future because of the region’s untapped resources. BP says the region is teeming with enough natural gas and heavy crude oil to keep production going for another 50 years.
Exxon Says Arctic Gas Pipeline “Not Viable”
Exxon’s CEO, Rex Tillerson, has said that rising costs to build pipelines to exploit Arctic natural gas from Alaska and Canada could soon be uneconomic. Tillerson said that the cost estimate to build a gas line from Canada’s Mackenzie Delta gas fields had more than doubled to about $15 billion. “At those costs, it’s not … Read More
Yet Another BP Leak in Alaska
Can nothing go right for BP? Yesterday the company said it will shut down production of 100,000 barrels of Alaskan oil for a few days, after discovering yet another leaky pipe at a processing facility. Some 400,000 barrels of oil a day are pumped at Prudhoe Bay, and BP has a 25 percent stake in … Read More
Congress Criticises BP’s Alaskan Operations
So BP is meant to have entered a new era with its new CEO Tony Hayward. But where was Hayward until recently? He was in charge of BP’s exploration and production division. He was in charge of the company’s Alaskan operations that have been plagued by problems of cost cutting and corrosion. Well now US … Read More
Bush Expands Oil Drilling In Alaska And To Virginia
The U.S. Interior Department will release today its new five-year plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, as well Alaska and Virginia. The proposed drilling area includes major fishing areas and is set to be controversial. The new leasing plan “would significantly increase the nation’s domestic energy supplies while protecting … Read More
FBI Widens North Slope Oil Probe
The FBI is investigating whether Alaska political appointees improperly punished state regulators who tried to enforce environmental rules against oil companies operating in Alaska. The inquiry is connected to an ongoing criminal investigation of BP for allowing pipelines it operates to corrode enough to cause a large oil spill on Alaska’s North Slope in 2006. … Read More